Amestris Isn't For Wimps Like Me
by TheKawaiiPatato
Summary: Would you like to get dropped into Amestris? Yes? No? Well, Fiona didn't really have too much of a choice in the matter. Follow her adventures as she travels through Amestris, trying to get her body back and get home with a certain gold-eyed alchemist and his metal brother. Rated T for swearing, blood/violence and stuff. EdxOC, based off of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I was bored. Bored out of my mind. This is never a good thing. But how could I not be; We were on a twenty hour road trip from Illinois to Florida. At least I had my books with me. Ah, J.K. Rowling, how you have rescued me from boredom.

I flipped open Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and started to re-read it for what must have been the thirtieth time. However, that didn't hold my interest for long. I'd read it 5 times too many on that road trip alone; all I had left was the FMA manga I'd recently gotten. But I'd read those through 15 times as well.

As you can probably tell by this point, I'm a total bookworm. I have always been, and always will be, a Potterhead. Forever and always. I also can't go without the internet for more than a few hours. Why? Well, Fullmetal Alchemist, of course. More specifically, Edward. Edward Elric… the weirdest and longest lasting fictional crush I have ever had and probably ever will. Giving an arm to save his younger brother even though he'd already lost his leg… it gave a totally new meaning to the term "I'd give an arm and a leg for…" Even though it was totally awful, sometimes I found myself thinking "I'd give an arm and a leg to get into Amestris."

I closed the book with a snap and slumped in my seat, sighing.

"I'm BOOOOORED!" I groaned. My two older brothers snickered at me.

"What's the matter, Fona?" Alex said, teasing me. "Not enough books?"

"Don't call me Fona!" I fired up. "Call me Fiona! Fiwii! Little Sis! Anything but Fona. It's not my name."

"Alright, Fona." Michael said breezily. He dodged the punch I sent at his face.

"Hey, no fighting!" My mom shouted, looking in the rearview mirror.

"Sorry, Mom." I said out loud, in as sincere of a voice as I could. "Not," I muttered under my breath as soon as she looked away. Damn them. When I was little I couldn't pronounce my name right, and instead of 'Fiona', I always said 'Fona'. My older brothers have been ragging on me for that ever since, and it bothers me about as much as it bothers Ed to be called short.

We stopped for a break at a gas station in the middle of a small desert. There was nothing to see. No hotels, no nothing. While Mom filled up the gas tank, my brothers and I scrambled out of the car to get some fresh air. I inhaled as deeply as I could.

"Aaah, fresh air!" I sighed happily. "I thought I would never smell you again!"

As my brothers fought with each other, I wandered off in the direction of a bush. I wanted to see if there were any cool animals around it. However, once I touched the bush, a sinkhole opened up, swallowing the bush whole. It must have been triggered by the pressure I'd put on the bush_. That was one sensitive sinkhole_, I thought. I stepped back quickly before it got me too. I glanced over my shoulder at my brothers. Neither of them had noticed. I stepped toward the hole again and peered into the depths. It was a lot deeper than I thought it had been.

Getting on my knees at the edge, clutching my book bag to make sure it didn't fall, I peered even farther in. Some sand slipped under my knees, and I scrambled to grab on to something that would keep me from falling, but to no avail. I slid right into the hole, and suddenly I was falling, falling, falling down. I screamed so loudly I thought my lungs would rip out of my throat. I heard faint calls from my brothers, and I closed my eyes, preparing for impact. _I am so dead_, I thought. _SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII…._

…_iiizzz? Huh?_

Nothing. No impact, no anything. I could feel that I was lying on… something, whatever it was. I could also feel my heavy book bag beside me. But I hadn't slammed into anything at all.

I opened my eyes experimentally, and then closed them again. It was too bright. Wait, _bright?_ That couldn't be right; I was underground. I shouldn't be able to see anything.

I sat up and opened my eyes again. Everything was white. No other colors, just pure white.

_Wait a second… All white…_

I turned very slowly, and found myself face-to-face with a massive, stone door.

I turned back around and laid down again, shutting my eyes. _Nope_, I told myself firmly_. Nope, nope, nope. This isn't The Gate. This is Hell… or Heaven… or whatever. But it can't be THE Gate._

"**Oh, but it can." **

Crap. I know that voice. I sat up again and opened my eyes. Sure enough, there was a humanoid figure standing there, outlined in black. Otherwise, the figure was white. He blended in quite well with the background. Truth.

"**I assume you know who I am?"** Truth asked.

I stood up and faced him. "What the hell do you want, Truth?" I asked coldly. "I haven't done anything to you."

"**That you know of…" **He said slyly.

"Wait, what's that supposed to mean? I asked defensively. "I haven't done anything... Well, scratch that, maybe a couple things, but nothing that means I have to end up in judgment!"

He didn't answer my question, he simply pointed at The Gate. **"You know what lies beyond this Gate, correct?"**

I turned to look at The Gate again. Almost against my will, I whispered, "Amestris… but how… It's real?"

"**Enter that Gate, and you will be transported to that world." **Truth grinned. That was even scarier than the fall it'd taken to get here.

"REALLY?!" I squealed. I couldn't help it; that would be amazing! _This has got to be some sort of wacky road trip dream,_ I figured. _What's the harm? _"Alright then!" I said happily, anime sparkles in my eyes. "I'm willing to go through!"

"**I'll have to take a toll from you," **Truth warned.

Shoot, I'd forgotten about that. _But it's just a dream, right? _I reassured myself.

"Fine," I smiled. "Just not my Harry Potter books, okay?" Those books are like my lifeline, no matter how much I'd read them. No way was I letting them go.

Truth grinned wickedly. **"That's not what I had in mind." **His voice sounded cruel, and suddenly I was scared.

I heard a creaking noise and whipped around, looking at the Gate again as it opened. Inside it was black. But unlike everything else, it was not a pure color. Actually, I believe that would be less terrifying then what was actually there. It was filled with blinking eyes, with a giant eye near the top, observing me. Black hands reached out to grab me, and I screamed like a baby for the second time that day.

"No, no, no, no, NO!" I yelled, but to no avail. I was dragged into the Gate, and suddenly I was in darkness, and in excruciating pain. It felt as though my arm and leg were getting torn off. I screamed so much my throat felt as though it had been flayed. Then, just as suddenly as the darkness had come, it was gone. I was lying on grass facing the sky, and for a moment I felt relief, until I noticed that I couldn't feel my left arm or right leg. No, it wasn't just that I couldn't feel them; they were gone.

I tried to scream again, but I was in shock. The pain was overwhelming, and I was lying in a very scary pool of blood. But I couldn't just sit there. I had to get help. Someone. Anyone.

I forced myself to turn over onto my stomach, and, although it caused me more pain, I dragged myself to my right. Why, I wasn't quite sure. But it was better than staying put.

Eventually, I came across a road. By then, what little energy I had left was depleted, and I collapsed next to it.

_I should call for help_, I thought woozily. _But… it's so nice right here. _

No. Bad Fiona. You do not get to think that way. I forced myself out of the slump and called out "Hello? Somebody? HELP ME!" My voice was hoarse after all that screaming, and I was surprised I was even able to talk at all.

I heard, vaguely, a gasp and someone running towards me. A male voice rang out, saying "Oh, man, what happened to her? Hey, Mike! Get over here!" More footsteps approached, followed by another gasp.

"We need to get her to the Rockbells," Mike said hurriedly.

What was wrong with everything? It looked shiny. Then black encroached on the edges of my vision, quickly swallowing it up. The last conscious thought I can remember was rather bitter. _Whenever I imagined meeting Winry, I was a bit more badass in the scene. _

**A/N: So, what do you think? This is my first Fanfiction, so I have absolutely no idea what you people hold as a good standard. Lets see if this hold up! Please be nice...**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hi guys! I'm back. Thank you, Liberte, for the awesome review! I can't actually believe I have 2 followers! (I'm probably way, _way _too excited about getting more then one follower) Here comes Chapter 2, and I hope you're ready! **

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><p>Chapter 2<p>

I was on a bed, I could tell that much. Maybe it was my own bed? I hoped so; that road trip was bad enough, let alone that dream I'd had. I could feel that I was raised up a bit on a pillow or two. My eyes blinked open slowly, taking in where I was. My heart sank; it wasn't my room, and this wasn't my bed.

My sight drifted down to my body, and my heart sank even further; it felt like it was somewhere around my belly button. My arm, from the elbow down, and my _entire_ leg, were gone. They were just bandaged little nubs.

My head flopped back onto the pillow, and angry tears filled my eyes. Damn that Truth. Why'd he have to go and do this? I felt absolutely pathetic.

I missed my family. I missed home. I even missed that horrible road trip we'd been on. I missed my reality. I was too depressed even to remember where I was.

That is, until the door swung open quietly and a very familiar blonde girl poked her head in. I quickly wiped the tears away from my eyes with my right hand.

"Oh, good!" Winry said, sounding pleased. "You're awake!"

I tried to talk, but only a croaking sound came out. I was realized I was absolutely parched, and my throat still felt like it had been ripped to pieces.

Winry seemed to realize what I wanted. She picked up a glass of water on the table to my left and helped me take a sip of water. I drank thirstily. Then the questions came pouring out.

"How did I get here?"

"You were brought in by a couple of our neighbors," Winry said with a concerned expression on her face. "You were bleeding out. I thought you were dead for a moment."

"Oh…" That wasn't good. I didn't want to look that way in front of one of my idols. Winry is awesome! Minus the whole hitting-Edward-with-a-wrench-over-the-head thing, I always wished I could be like her. And here I was, meeting her, _for real_, and I was crippled. Just great.

"How many days have I been here?"

"This is your second day here." She sounded relieved, as though she had doubted that I'd wake up at all.

I face palmed and groaned. "Of course it is. Fantastic. Absolutely fan-flipping-tastic." So not only was I crippled, but I had been clearly crippled for more than a couple days.

"Did all of my stuff make it here?" I asked. She gave me an odd look. "Yeah, it did. I wouldn't be worrying about that now, though."

I felt a slight sense of relief. At least my books, now the only reminder of where I came from, had made it here.

I laid my head back on my pillows and sighed. "So what am I supposed to do now? I mean," I gave a bitter laugh. "It's not like I can do much like this." I wiggled my limbs to emphasize the point.

"Well," Winry said with an edge of excitement in her voice, "You could always get automail!"

I considered this. It would certainly get me off my butt, and that would be awesome. If I ever managed to get home, then I wouldn't have anyone to adjust it, so that would be bad. Hmm. The pro definitely outweighed the con.

"Sure," I decided. "I can't lie around like this forever!"

"Yay!" Winry squealed. I smiled in spite of my depression. Her enthusiasm always made me laugh when I watched her. She pulled out a tape measure and started getting various measurements. When she was finished, she stood up. "I'll get started on it right away!"

She headed for the door, then stopped and turned. "I never got your name," she stated.

"Oh." I'd totally forgotten that. "My name's Fiona. It's nice to meet you…?"

"Winry," she finished. "Winry Rockbell. Just call if you need anything, okay?" With this, she left.

Yes, I pretended not to know who she was. I'm not stupid, okay? I've broken the fourth wall, haven't I? I wasn't about to go tearing it down even more willy-nilly. Not if I could help it.

There wasn't anything to do now. I was trapped with my own thoughts, and this eventually caused me to go to sleep. My sleep was restless, broken with memories of the Gate. I doubt I'll ever get over that traumatic experience.

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><p>I was awoken by the smell of stew. My stomach gave an involuntary rumble, and I realized that I wasn't just hungry; I was absolutely starving.<p>

Fifteen minutes later, after being tortured by hunger and unable to do anything about it, I heard footsteps come up the stairs, and the smell of stew grew stronger.

Winry came in with a bowl of stew and a spoon. "Hi!" She said brightly. "I thought you'd be hungry."

"Hell yeah!" I said ecstatically, punching the air with my hand. "Food!" She smiled as she said "Thought so."

She sat down and helped me balance the bowl on my stomach so I could eat by myself. That was a small victory in and of itself; at least I didn't have to have her feed me. That would have been mortifying.

She sat and watched me eat to make sure I didn't spill anything. It was a bit weird, but I was too hungry to care. After I finished, she took the bowl from me and looked at me intently.

"So, Fiona," She asked. "How old are you?

"Fourteen."

"Where'd you come from? How'd you end up in the middle of the fields?"

"Ah…" that pulled me up short. I wasn't quite sure how to answer that one. I thought frantically for a believable back-story.

"Um… I was traveling and… well… you know, I'm not entirely sure. I might have been attacked, I don't know. Something bad happened, that's for sure." I invented as I went. I'm not a great liar, but Winry seemed to buy it.

"That's odd." She muttered, with a frown on her face. "I don't remember any reports of attackers in the area." I sweatdropped nervously. "I'll have to tell Granny to keep her ear out." I breathed a sigh of relief, for what seemed like the hundredth time that day.

"You're pretty young to be traveling on your own." Winry mused. "What's the reason?"

"Oh…" I looked down. This was touching a bit close to home. "Well… my parents are gone. Not dead, just gone. So I guess I'm just trying to find them."

Not the whole truth, not a total lie. Oh well.

You see, I'm actually rather like the Elrics in at least one way. My dad ran away a long time ago. However, while Ed seemed positively determined to hate and avoid his father, I'd like to find my dad. First I want to punch him in the face, and then I want to ask him why he left. Now, all I wanted was to get home and find my mom and my brothers. I wonder how they were reacting; I bet mom was freaking out, she was always so overprotective.

"Hmm." Winry sounded concerned. "Well, all the more reason for me to finish up your automail as soon as possible! I should get back to work."

She got up to leave again, but I stopped her. "Do you mind bringing my bag over here?"

"Sure!" She went into a corner I couldn't see and picked up my bag. I could see there was some dried blood on it, and I started to worry.

She set it next to me, and I immediately dove into it, rifling through the contents. All of the FMA books were gone. So was my cell phone. I guess there was nothing I could do about that. In a way, the fact that I didn't have to explain what a cell phone is to anybody was probably a good thing; that, and Winry would dissect it if she found it. All of my Harry Potter books were there, though, and completely untouched. Thank goodness that Truth had at least upheld his part of whatever bargain we'd struck.

"Thanks Winry. I owe you one," I said gratefully. Then I thought for a moment. "Or two or fifteen…"

She laughed. "Later!"

As soon as she was gone, I pulled out Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and began to read from the beginning. Hey, technically it was originally called Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. It might have some good information in it. Of course, that was only assuming I ran into Edward and Alphonse. Amestris is huge; the likelihood of me running into them was next to nothing, unless I stayed here. That, I did not intend to do. Hey, Winry is awesome. I love her to death, but there's no way I'd be able to stay here forever. I was in _Amestris._ If I didn't explore, I would never forgive myself.

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><p>The next few days were incredibly long and incredibly boring. Mostly, I read. I read a lot. Even when my Harry Potter books got a bit boring, I kept reading. It was a good reminder of home. That was incentive enough to get well as soon as I could. At meals, Winry would come in with food, and we'd talk. Most of what she told me about her life I already knew, but there were little things that popped up that they never showed in the anime.<p>

One day, for instance, she brought up a picture of Ed and Al with her. I looked at it with pretend curiosity. "Who are they?" I asked.

"They're my old neighbors," she told me. "Edward and Alphonse." She pointed to each of them in turn. "They're such idiots," she whispered softly, almost to herself, not to me. "I worry about them a lot. They almost never come around."

"Come around?" I asked.

"Yeah." She smiled sadly. "They travel everywhere. And they're only 15 and 14. I mean, what do they expect?"

She exploded a bit. It was clear she had wanted to talk about this for a long time. "Whenever they DO come around, they never tell me what's happened, and Ed's arm is always broken or needs some sort of heavy-duty repair work. They never tell me ANYTHING! Then they wonder why I worry about them so much! What is WRONG with them?!"

"You know, my Mom and I had a theory." I smirked slightly. "About boys, I mean."

"And what might that theory be?" She asked curiously.

"Quite simply, boys are weird."

After a short pause, she started laughing really hard. "Well put," she giggled, wiping tears of laughter from her bright blue eyes. "That sounds about right."

She got up. "I should start working again," She said, stretching out. "It should be done in a day or two."

"Oh, cool!" I was super enthusiastic. "I can't wait!"

"You might be singing a different tune soon," Winry warned me. I blanched. _That's right_, I remembered. _The nerve connection. Ah, hell, this is going to suck. _

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><p><strong>Aaaand that was Chapter 2. I hope it was as good as the first. <strong>

**Thanks again for the reviews, I love you guys! **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I'm honestly surprised that I even got 1 follower, let alone 6! I love you guys! BTW, I guess I haven't told you my name. Then again, that might be dumb, so just call me Kiera if you need to call me anything. **

**Anyway, I think this is a shorter chapter then normal. (OH GODS NO ED I DIDN'T MEAN IT LIKE THAT! *absconds*) **

**Ed: Well, there she goes. Grr... Anyway, yeah. Enjoy the story. **

**I do not own FMA or any of the characters. I only own Fiona. (I keep forgetting to mention that...)**

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><p>Chapter 3<p>

The day came for my automail to go on, and when Winry came to get me, it was to find me lying flat on my back on my bed, staring at the ceiling. My sense to want to avoid pain and my sense that wanted to move around were battling their way in my brain.

_This is going to make you walk again! _One side of my brain argued.

_This is going to hurt like hell! _The other side warned.

_Walking._

_Pain._

_Walking!_

_Pain!_

_WALKING! _

_PAIN!_

"Um… Fiona? You okay?" Winry asked tentatively.

I snapped out of it and turned my head to her. "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's get this over with."

She helped me get into a wheelchair and carefully wheeled me down stairs. I observed the rest of the house in interest. I hadn't been able to leave my room at all in the time I'd been here.

I love their house. It's really cute, and there are places for pictures everywhere! If I could have any house, I decided, I would probably want this one.

As I got downstairs, Den started sniffing frantically at me, and I started giggling. Her nose tickled a lot!

Winry and Pinako lifted me onto an operation table. I could see the shiny automail over on a table, and my heart lurched into my throat. I leaned back against the cold metal table and closed my eyes, gritting my teeth as I did so.

I'm not going to describe the surgery to you; that was probably way too graphic. All I'll tell you is that, as painful as everything else was, it can in no way compare to the intense pain of getting my nerves connected to the automail. I'm pretty sure I blacked out after the first one; it was too much.

When I woke up again, I was back in the room I'd been in. It'd been a few days, according to the calendar next to the bed. I guess I'd been out of it from fever. The room was exactly the same. However, it was not like before. This time, I had a complete set of arms and legs. Admittedly, half of that was completely metal, but who cares, right? I could walk if I tried hard enough.

I carefully pushed myself upright _on my own_, and swung my legs over the edge of my bed. I was in no way going to try and walk on my own; I know that would end with me on my face. So I carefully stretched out my arm, wincing slightly as it pulled the tender muscles of my upper arm. I reached my real arm out, placing it beside my automail hand. I fell back onto my back and just stared at them.

My whole life, I never imagined I would see real automail. I'm pretty sure just about every FMA fan thought that. FMA was a source of entertainment; albeit, one filled with potential fictional crushes, but that was beside the point. I was _here_. In _Amestris_. Now that I had legs, I could explore. There was nothing holding me back.

Except for the fact that I still wasn't used to it. "I hope I don't have to relearn how to walk again," I muttered to myself. "That would suck." I heard footsteps coming up and I pushed myself back up, grinning broadly.

Winry came in, and seeing me smiling, she beamed at me.

"I see you're feeling well," She smiled. "How about we test that leg of yours out?"

"Hell yeah!"

With Winry's help, I stood up _very _shakily. After a moment, she let go of my arm, leaving me to stand, wobbling slightly, on my own. I beamed at her.

The next three months was spent with me walking around the upstairs floor continually. Winry had forbidden me to go down stairs on my own, so I didn't go anywhere other than Winry's room, usually, where I looked over her shoulder at automail designs she was working on. It's not like I had much to do; there aren't any computers in Amestris. Meanwhile, my walking skills got better and better, although because I was pushing myself so hard, I did find myself occasionally spitting blood. This was unpleasant, but bearable.

The day finally came when Winry allowed me to go down the stairs on my own. To say I ran down was an understatement. I quite literally bounded down, and I only stumbled slightly at the bottom. I ran to the door and went outside for the first time months. The last time I'd been out, well, I'd been bleeding out in a field.

Den came running out after me, tail wagging. She tried to tackle me, but I was strong enough to stand up now. Laughing, I picked up a stick on the ground and threw it as far as I could. She went sprinting off after it. She brought it back and I threw it again. We played fetch for hours.

In fact, that's the majority of what I did for the _next_ three months. I laughed and talked with Winry about the guys, making fun of Ed's shortness. I played fetch with Den. I ate with Pinako and Winry. I played with Den some more.

Eventually, though, the ache of wanting to get home reached me once more, and I knew I'd have to leave soon. I still hadn't completely healed from rehabilitation, so it would be unpleasant, but staying in one place for 6 months solid without going anywhere didn't sit well with me. I wasn't quite sure how to approach Winry on that one. I decided straightforward would be best. Or at least, as straightforward as you can be when part of your life is a lie to everyone.

One day, I stopped Winry from going back upstairs after dinner to talk to her.

"Hey, Win?" I asked tentatively. "Yeah, what's up?" She questioned.

"Well…" I swallowed nervously. "How would you feel if I told you I wanted to leave?"

She gave me a shocked expression. "You do? You're not even completely healed yet!"

"It's not because I don't like it here!" I said quickly. "It's just…" I looked down. "I'd like to start on my way again. Sitting in one place for a long time starts making me restless. I want to find my parents. I want to find my home. And if I can," I said looking up again, "I'd like to learn a little Alchemy along the way."

"Oh…" Winry seemed slightly sad, but she smiled just the same. "I understand. When do you want to leave?"

"Tomorrow morning, I think." I replied.

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><p><strong>AN: Why is it that I'm thinking of the song "We're off to see the Wizard...?"**

**Ed: There are no such things as wizards.**

**Me: READ HARRY POTTER YOU HEATHEN. HOGWARTS IS REAL. **

**Ed: *sighs* When do I come into this story anyway? **

**Me: Soon, little one. OH DANG *absconds again***

**Ed: GET BACK HERE!**

**Al: I guess I'm taking over now. Review, Follow, Favorite please! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, so I'm late. I'm sorry. **

**No, really, I am. I just had... stuff. Anyway, here's chapter 4! And where everything gets more... _complicated. _Enjoy!**

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><p>Chapter 4<p>

It was about nine o'clock in the morning. I was dressed in grey sweatpants and a simple blue long-sleeve shirt (which was a bit too long for me, but it covered up my automail hand, so that's good), with my book bag full of books swinging next to me. I stood on the ground in front of the porch, facing Winry and Pinako.

"It'll be a lot quieter without you here," Pinako said with a grin. "It was nice while it lasted, though."

"I really can't thank you two enough." I told them. "Really. Just… thank you so much."

"Pfft." Winry waved my thanks away. "The only thanks you can provide are coming back without your automail being destroyed every time."

I laughed. "I'll do my best."

I walked forward and hugged her. She hugged me back without question. She was a good friend now.

As I waved at them, walking away, I realized that making a close friend might not be a good idea. Wasn't this messing with the plot?

I was worrying about that all the way down the road. I had to snap out of it, though. There were a bunch of people getting off the train that'd just arrived, and I needed to find the ticket booth.

I started pushing through the crowd of people, but was stopped rather quickly. I'd seen a blonde head. A blonde, braided head. Oh, dear lord. Why me? I'd guess my eyes bugged out of my head.

The crowd cleared a bit, and sure enough, there was Edward, lacking an arm. And there was Armstrong, carrying Al in a box. No way. No. Flipping. Way. Why me? Why me? WHY ME?

There was no way I was leaving now. Not if I wanted to meet these guys. I made up my mind, and with more courage than I thought I would've needed, I made my way over to them. Who cares if it messed with the plot; it was the ELRICS. If I didn't talk to them, I would never be able to stop regretting it. Plus, when else would I have the chance to make fun of a sensitive midget?

"Excuse me?" I called out. They turned. I was surprised I didn't have a massive anime-style nosebleed right then and there. Edward was just as cute as I remembered. I pushed down that feeling and kept moving towards them.

"Hi," I said breathlessly as I reached them. Armstrong set Al down on the ground.

Not really addressing either one of the brothers, just them in general, I asked, "Are you the Fullmetal Alchemist?"

Ed smirked and said, "Why, yes." However, I did something that I knew would piss him off; I started shaking Al's one hand and saying "It's very nice to meet you, Mr. Fullmetal Alchemist sir!"

Ed looked like he was going to explode. "No!" He yelled. "I'm the Fullmetal Alchemist! WHY does everyone assume that it's him?!" He pointed at Al. _Oh, I don't know, maybe because he's in a suit of armor? Our hero, ladies and gentlemen._

I stopped shaking Al's hand and looked at Ed critically. In reality, he actually was about the same height as me, or possibly slightly taller. However, I don't have a problem with being 4 foot 10.

"No way!" I protested. I had to try not to laugh. "You can't be Fullmetal! You're too short!"

"AAAARRGH!" I ran for it. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING SMALL?!" Ed bellowed as he chased me, his empty sleeve flapping behind him. I turned as I ran. "I'm just kidding!" I laughed. "I knew you were Fullmetal. I was just teasing, dude!"

Fortunately, he stopped chasing me, but he still looked really angry. "Fine," he said through gritted teeth. "Who are you anyway?"

"Just a friendly traveler on my way," I said calmly. "Where are you off to?"

"The Rockbells," he grumbled. "My arm broke."

"Hey, I'll come with you!" I suggested. "It'll be fun!" I didn't care that I'd just left; I needed to see this.

"No way!" He protested. "And why not?" I asked.

"Because… because…" he fumbled for a good excuse. "Argh," he finally said, face palming. "Fine."

Armstrong picked up Al again and we headed back up the road.

After a few minutes of no talking, the silence started to get uncomfortable. "So, I don't think I ever properly introduced myself!" I said awkwardly, trying to break the silence.

"No, and neither did we." Al said. "What's your name?"

"I'm Fiona!" I announced. "It's really nice to meet you. You're Edward and Alphonse, aren't you?" I shot at them.

They both looked stunned; well, Al can't really look stunned, but you know what I mean. "How do you know that?" Ed sputtered.

"That's for me to know and you to find out." I told them mysteriously.

Ed paled, and I laughed.

When we got to the top of the rise where the Rockbell's house was, a wrench came flying from the top floor, hitting Ed solidly on the forehead. He went down. I almost yelled "Timber!" but managed to restrain myself from doing so.

"Winry!" Ed yelled, exasperated. "Are you TRYING to kill me?!"

"I told you to call before you come here!" She called back, annoyed. Then she looked over at me.

"Fiona? What are you doing back here?"

"Oh, yeah." I looked up at her. "I ran into these two at the station. I didn't want to miss out on the fun!"

She smiled. "Well, welcome back!"

I waved cheerily. The brothers both looked at me like I was insane.

When they went into the house, I felt a bit uncomfortable with following them. After all, they probably wanted some time with their family, right?

I went along the side of the house and slid down the wall. Something very strange was going on with my feelings, and I'd noticed it ever since I'd met the brothers at the train station.

I like Ed a lot. He's hilarious and hot and adorable. But he marries Winry in the end. Winry's my friend now, so it's not like I was going to _try_ and mess with her love life. What am I supposed to do?

_Well, _said the little voice inside my head, _you'll just have to get over this crush. _

I sighed to myself. "I'm really starting to hate you, conscience," I said out loud.

"Huh?"

I whipped around to find Ed standing there. "Oh, sorry." I looked back at my knees. "I was just talking to myself."

He gave me a suspicious look and walked away.

I sighed again. _Great, _I thought. _My crush thinks I'm a weirdo. _

_No… not a crush… just a passing guy._

I decided that I'd rather talk to Al. Yes, Ed is adorable, but man is he a suspicious guy. He was uncomfortable to be around.

I slipped around the corner and went to sit next to Al, careful to sit on the side that wasn't close to Ed. Hopefully, I wouldn't have to see his face around Al's larger body.

"So, Al…" I started.

"You know, you never did tell us how you know our names." He pointed out.

"I would've thought that should be obvious by now," I said. "I've stayed with Winry for the past several months. We talked about you two."

Ed's head poked out from behind Al's back. "And what exactly did you talk about?" he asked anxiously.

I smiled mysteriously. "Oh, she didn't tell you? Well, it must not have been important enough for you to know if she didn't want to tell you."

"Tell me!" Ed insisted.

I inspected my fingernails. "Tell you what?"

"YOU KNOW WHAT!" Now his face was red with comical anger. He jumped up, walking over next to me.

"Yeah, I get the idea, but what is you want to know specifically?"

I thought steam would come out of his ears. Words failed him as he stood there, stuttering with rage. I started laughing.

"Aaaaw," I said before I could stop myself. "You're so cute when you're mad!"

The red on his face immediately vanished, replaced by a very confused, if somewhat embarrassed, expression.

"Uh…" Ed stuttered. Privately, I didn't actually blame him for being worried. What if Winry gave away _the_ big secret?

"So, _anyway_, before I was interrupted, I was going to ask if either of you two happened to have any books on alchemy." I continued.

"Do you want to learn alchemy?" Al asked.

"Not necessarily… I just want to understand it a bit more." I answered.

"Alright!" He pulled out a book-out of flipping nowhere, mind you- and handed it to me. Anime logic never fails to confuse me. _A Beginners Guide to Alchemy. _Huh.

"Um… thanks." I took the book and started to flip through it. Before I could get very far, though, I heard Winry from inside the house. "Hey, Fiona! Do you think you could help me out?"

"Sure!" I called back. I stuck the book in my bag and went inside.

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><p><strong>So the brothers have finally arrived! You knew they had to come in <em>somewhere. <em>**

**What did ya think? **

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	5. Chapter 5

**You all probably hate me, dontcha?**

**I honestly have no excuse other then that I'm a total lazy butt... no really, I literally have NO excuse. It's not like I've been on vacation. School isn't that taxing. And it's not writer's block either. I have about 40 chapters of this story just waiting to be published. **

**I'm sorry that my laziness has gotten in the way of the story. **

**The following chapter is, in my opinion, meh. I am okay with it, but it's not my best ever. I'm sorry. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist. I only own Fiona. **

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><p>Chapter 5<p>

I found her working on Ed's new arm.

"What do you need help with?" I asked. "You're the automail expert."

"Yeah, but you're the one who's wearing it." She answered. "Do you think this is too heavy?" She handed me a somewhat-completed piece. I looked at it closely. "This would be the forearm, right? If that's what it is, then it's just slightly too heavy for Edward, I think."

"Hmm…" Winry took the piece back and looked at it from an odd angle. "You're probably right."

I sat down next to her and watched her work. After a couple minutes, I voiced my concerns. "I don't think Ed likes me very much."

"Oh, he does seem like that, doesn't he?" Winry said, her tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth as she worked. "Well, he's just a suspicious person. Just spend some time with him, and he'll get used to you."

"It's hard to spend time around him when he's so suspicious…" I muttered. She laughed.

"Just talk to him." She advised. "He'll get over it."

"Yeah… you're probably right."

I headed upstairs to my room, locking the door and staring in the mirror at myself. It'd been a long time since I'd had any reason to look in a mirror. Did something about me look suspicious? Was that why he was so paranoid about me?

My face was thinner. Come to think of it, my body was more toned as well. Hey, if you lack a computer to veg out on, there's not much left to do in Amestris. Exercise, which I previously loathed, was really all that was left. My grey eyes sparkled in the slightly unnatural way that anime eyes tend to do, and seemed to have gotten brighter. Again, this was probably because of the lack of computer. My long and dark brown hair was even longer, so that it fell somewhere around my waist, and my bangs had started to cover my eyes. I brushed them off to the side, and they looked reasonably okay. I was somewhat surprised to see that the blue dye on the tips was still there, although it was starting to fade. The frizz that seemed to follow it everywhere was gone, too. My hair was lying perfectly flat. That's unheard of with my hair.

But nothing looked off, or shady, in my opinion. I looked normal. Or my version of normal, anyway.

Sighing, I went outside and pulled out the Alchemy book. I read for several hours, absorbing the material. I suppose I'm kind of like Sheska. I can't memorize everything exactly, like she can, but I sure as heck can paraphrase. The only thing I can memorize completely is lyrics and music. That I can do just fine.

I only noticed it was cold when Winry called me in from the house. I looked up and found it to be quite dark. That's another thing; I literally get absorbed in books. I shivered and packed up my things, hurrying inside.

That night I witnessed Edward's famous appetite. It was almost scary the way he eats; he was literally stuffing his face. It made me suddenly less hungry. I poked at my food in a lack-luster manner.

Pinako looked at me weirdly. "Something wrong with the food, Fiona?"

"No," I muttered. Then I pointed my fork at Ed. "It's the way that he's eating."

"Hey, shut up!" He said hotly.

"I don't know what exactly you're yelling at me for. You're the one who's eating like they haven't seen food in weeks."

"I said SHUT UP!"

"Whatever." I pushed my plate away towards him. "Have it if you want, I'm not hungry anymore."

Al laughed slightly. "WHAT?!" Both Ed and I asked, annoyed.

"Sorry," Al said, trying to smother his laughter and failing miserably. "But you two are so alike!"

"NO WE'RE NOT!" We shouted. Then I looked over at Ed at the same time as he looked at me. "You're proving my point," Al said unhelpfully.

"Oh, shush." I grumbled.

"There's only a couple of other things I'd need to prove it." Al said, thinking. "Fiona, do you like milk?"

"HELL NO!" I yelled. "That stuff is absolutely nasty!"

Then I thought about it. I facepalmed really hard. "You hate milk, don't you, Edward?" I mumbled into my hand. "Wait, you don't need to answer. That question proves it. _Crap._"

"What?" Ed asked defensively. "Is it a bad thing to be like me?"

"Yes! No. I mean- oh what the hell," I stuttered. "I don't know!" I'm sure that my face was pink. "I'm going to go upstairs."

By upstairs, what I meant was that I was going to go jump out of my window and get the hell out of there. Which I did. I actually can climb down from that window fairly easily, though holding a book doing so is significantly harder. I sat underneath the window with the alchemy book and a candle, where I could keep reading without being interrupted. I was going to learn alchemy if it killed me. Wait, scratch that last part. I don't want to die. Not before I get to see my mom again.

Ed's POV

I watched Fiona go upstairs. I wasn't really sure what to make of her. She was pretty, sure, but… wait, WHAT?!

Edward Elric, what the hell are you thinking about? No. No, no, no. Shut up, don't think like that.

She makes fun of my shortness. And she knows more than she's telling. I just know it. And I'm going to find out what.

~Next Day~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fiona's POV

I decided to play with Den again. After all, I didn't want to stuff my face in that book all day. I'd try alchemy later.

It was a lot hotter, so I decided to wear shorts and a tank top. This exposed my leg and arm, but I didn't really care. I think I would have cared a lot more had I remembered that the Elrics were at the Rockbell house.

As I was watching Den chasing after a stick I'd thrown, I heard a voice behind me and almost jumped out of my skin.

"You have automail too?" Ed asked as he walked up next to me.

I put a hand over my rapidly beating heart. "Yeah, I do. Jeez, don't sneak up on a girl like that! You scared the crap out of me!"

"Oh, sorry." He looked at me hard enough to make me uncomfortable. I looked away. His eyes may be pretty, but they can scare you too. "If you don't mind me asking, what happened?"

"I was attacked." I said shortly. "I don't remember the details, because I passed out." Again, not really a lie, but not the entire truth. I was attacked, but I was attacked by Truth, not some robbers or something.

"Hmm." He looked at Den as she came back to me, her tail wagging madly as she dropped the stick in front of me. I picked it up and threw it again. She went sprinting off, and I smiled slightly.

"Hey, why don't you help me out for a minute?" I said, breaking the silence. "I'm going to try some alchemy."

"So you _do _want to try alchemy…" he frowned. "Why didn't you just say so?"

I felt my face get a bit hot. "Well, it's a little harder to trust people when they obviously don't trust you."

"Hmph." He turned away.

"Anyway, do you wanna help?" I asked tentatively.

He sighed. "Sure. Whatever."

"Alright, great! Thanks!" I smiled. I pulled out the alchemy book from my book bag, which was leaning against the side of the house, then knelt down and drew a rough transmutation circle in the dirt. I sat back for a moment. "Hmmmmm….." I thought aloud. "What should I try first?"

"You should try something simple," Ed observed, looking over my shoulder. "Try just molding something out of the dirt."

I looked over my shoulder at him. "Like what? A horse?"

He chuckled slightly. "Fine, as long as you mean a toy one." I rolled my eyes and turned back to my circle. "Just make sure you focus all your energy on that toy horse. Otherwise, you'll just get a blob."

"Alright." I took a deep breath and placed my hands on the circle. "Here I go!"

I closed my eyes and concentrated with all my might on creating that horse. There was no way I'm failing on my first try, and especially not in front of the Fullmetal Alchemist. A bluish light shone through my eyelids. After the light faded, I opened my eyes and my heart leapt.

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><p><strong>Like I said, meh. I screwed some things up with Ed's POV in the middle, but... you know what, it's Fanfiction, and it's not an essay or a book, so I think I can write what I want. <strong>

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	6. Chapter 6

**Hey, I'm still a really big lazy butt!**

**At least it didn't take that long this time. **

**:3 Happy day! Enjoy~~!**

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><p>Chapter 6<p>

Before me sat a reasonably detailed little horse. I was ecstatic, but even that small amount of alchemy had tired me out a lot. I slumped.

"Hey, you okay?" Ed asked behind me. "Yeah, I'm great!" I said, with as much energy as I could. "I'm just a bit tired, that's all."

"Ah, yeah. That can happen."

"_Noooo…." _

"Oh, shut up!"

"Whatever." I brushed the hair out of my eyes. "I can't believe I could do it! YES!"

"If you want to get better, you're going to want to practice," Ed advised. "Hopefully, you won't get as tired, either."

"Yeah… that would be a plus." I stood up. "I'm going to go get some water. Want some?"

"Sure."

Only once I was filling up the cups with water did I realize that this was an accomplishment, in a way. Ed was relaxing around me. I guess Winry was right.

As I was sitting there, drinking my water with Ed, I had a very sudden realization. I'd seen the Gate. That meant that, technically, I could transmute without a circle. The possibilities whirled through my head. However, actually _showing _Ed that I could do that would be a bad idea. A very, very, very, very, VERY bad idea. I didn't want to go him ranting at me about how Human Transmutation is wrong. (Even though I hadn't done Human Transmutation, thank you very much. I'm not that stupid.) So for now, I'd keep going with that circle.

~Next day~

Well, it seems like Winry's finished Ed's new arm. Now all that's left is to attach it.

I stood by and watched as Winry and Pinako both tightened a bolt on Ed's automail. He moaned in pain, and I winced in sympathy. That hurts. A lot.

I walked away while he tested out his limbs. I was going to try some more alchemy. The whole previous day, I'd been practicing. I could do a reasonable amount of alchemy without getting totally drained. However, I hadn't tried transmutation without a circle yet. I wasn't going to try that unless I had to. I pulled out the book again and looked at it. I wasn't going to try reshaping this time. I was going to try remaking the elements instead.

Hmmm…. How do you make steel out of dirt?

I puzzled this over for a while. Just as I was about to start, though, I heard the sounds of metal on metal. I figured that the brothers were sparring. I tried to ignore it. This proved to be impossible. Eventually, I got irritated.

"Would you mind keeping it down?" I asked through gritted teeth, turning around. "I'm trying to concentrate."

"Oh, sorry!" Al apologized. Ed didn't seem sorry at all. Jerk. Freaking adorable jerk, sure, but still a jerk. "You want to be an alchemist, right?" He asked.

"Well, yeah. What do you think I'm doing over here?" I said sardonically.

"Well, our teacher taught us that to train the mind, you need to train the body. If you want to be an alchemist, you should train your body too." He stated.

"So what you're saying is you want me to spar with you?" I asked. He shrugged. "Sure. Unless you're scared." He smirked.

"Hell no!" I stood up indignantly. "I'm not afraid of you, pipsqueak. Bring it on."

"ALL RIGHT, THAT'S IT!" He came charging at me.

I lied. I am very afraid of Edward Elric. This is doubled by the fact that I have no martial arts experience. I have to learn on the fly.

"Eep!" I jumped out of the way. Unfortunately, Ed has way better reflexes than me. He quickly turned and threw a punch at my chest. Fortunately, although I don't know if it was purposeful or not, he used his normal arm. Still, it hit me pretty hard. I stumbled back, rubbing the spot. Hmm. How do you beat a martial arts master?

Short answer; fight dirty.

When Ed came at me again, I was ready. I ducked the blow. Actually, I ducked underneath him entirely. He flew over me, and I took the opportunity to grab his leg and pull it down, slamming him into the ground. I hopped up, jumping lightly off of Ed's head before running for my life. I could hear him catch up to me quickly, where he tackled me from behind. He grabbed my hand, pulling it behind me in a half nelson. He put his knee in the middle of my back, and I coughed harshly. I wiped my mouth and pulled my hand away to see it was speckled with blood. Like I said; rushing the recovery period might not have been smart. I wiped it away before anyone could see.

"That was a dirty trick," he growled.

"Oh, like I was supposed to do something else?" I protested. "I don't have any training in this sort of thing. If you'd like, I could go get a wrench from Winry and we could go for round two."

"HELL NO!" He jumped off of me, and I got up immediately, smirking. "Thought so."

He was still a little scared of me following through with the wrench threat, so I guess he didn't expect me to punch him as hard as I could with my automail hand. What? I'm not the strongest person. Besides, the metal probably didn't even hurt him that much. His muscles are like rocks anyway.

_What in the name of Truth did I just think? _

You're supposed to be getting over this crush, Fiona. Get. Over. It.

NOW.

This sort of thing went on for about an hour. By the end of this hour, I was thoroughly tired and beat up. Ed had a couple scrapes, but they were mostly from Al. The only good blow I got on him was a good knee to the face. That was just a bad move on his part.

When we came inside, Winry flipped out at my appearance. "What the HELL did you drag her into?" She yelled at the brothers.

"She was fine with it!" Ed protested. "Seriously, Winry!"

She snorted in disbelief, looking me over. "You should change before dinner."

I looked down at my clothes. They were slightly shredded and covered in grass stains. "No kidding. I can't wait for dinner, though. I'm starving!"

"Exactly the same…" Al muttered. Ed and I glared at him.

I turned away, running up the stairs. I carelessly threw my clothes in the corner and pulled on some sweats and a tank top with a higher collar then normal to hide all of my back. **(1)**

As I ran back down the stairs, a thought occurred to me. Should I ask to travel with the brothers? I didn't want to travel on my own. Of course, I wasn't sure I necessarily wanted to put myself in danger. And it didn't matter if I was in Brotherhood or the Original; I was going to be in danger either way. Actually, it didn't matter where I was on the map. I was probably in danger everywhere. Anyway, with my luck, I would probably run into the Elrics, like, 15 times in the course of my time here if I didn't travel with them anyway. What did I have to lose?

I resolved to ask after dinner.

Dinner was very loud. Winry and Ed were arguing over milk. Jeez, Ed, get over the milk already. She's not force-feeding it to you. Just put up with it.

After dinner, the brothers went up to their room, and I gave them a bit of time before going up after them. I kept glancing at the stairs, wondering when I should do it. Winry noticed my glancing; I suppose I'm not the most subtle of people.

"What's up?" She asked. I sighed nervously. "I'm going to ask the brothers if I can travel with them. I just don't know how to. Ed still scares me a bit."

She laughed. "Don't be scared, just ask them! Personally, I'd be more scared of what kind of things you'll get into with them." She frowned up the stairs.

"I think I can handle them," I assured her. I sighed, pushing my chair out from the table and standing. "I'd better do it now, or else I don't think I'll ever be able to."

I stepped up the stairs, and stopped in front of the brother's door. I hesitated slightly before knocking.

"Come in." Ed commanded from inside. I opened the door and poked my head inside. "Hi." They both looked slightly surprised to see me.

"What's up, Fiona?" Al asked.

"Well… um…" I fumbled over my words. It was even harder than I thought.

"What? Spit it out!" Ed said impatiently.

"Well, I was wondering… if… if I… could… could come with you on your journey." I finished quickly, rushing on the last part.

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><p><strong>(AN: 1): If you guys are wondering, there's more to this point. And yes, I'm making you wait for it. Author lady is cruel, I know. :3**

**You all rule! I love you all!**

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	7. Chapter 7

**Aaaaaaaaand I'm back! ;D I'm doing my best not to keep you waiting more then two or so weeks. No more month and a half long breaks! *determined face* Let's do this thing! **

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><p><span>Ed's POV<span>

I stared at Fiona. _What?_

"You want to come with us?" Al asked, bemused.

"Yeah, I do." She confirmed. "I really want to come with you guys."

I couldn't think of what to say. Eventually, the only thing that came out of my mouth was "Did Winry put you up to this?" She gave me an incredulous look.

Ed, what the hell? What was that?

"No, she didn't! Why would she?"

"No, you're right, sorry," I mumbled. "Are you sure? We don't exactly live safe lives, and you can't defend yourself very well."

She swallowed nervously. "Yeah, I know what sort of life you live. But I want to come. And don't worry about me," she said with a sudden smile. "I'm getting pretty good at alchemy."

I looked at her skeptically. I knew Al was looking at her too. This was weird; usually people don't want much to do with us.

After a minute, she started to squirm under the stares. "Um, guys? If you want to stare, take a picture. It'll last longer."

"Oh, sorry." Damn it, why was I apologizing? I never apologize! What's wrong with me?

"Well, what do you think, Brother?" Al asked me.

I sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "Fine, you can come."

"Oh, awesome!" Fiona smiled, looking relieved. "Thanks, guys! I'll try to make sure you don't regret it."

With that, she left.

I flopped back onto my bed. What the_ HELL!_

"Brother," Al asked slyly. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I muttered.

"Are you sure?" Al asked skeptically.

"No, Al!" I was getting irritated. "There's nothing wrong!"

"_Riiiiiiight_," He said sarcastically.

"Al, what are you trying to get at?" I said suspiciously. I had an idea where he was going, and I didn't like it.

"Nothing!" He sounded scared. Good.

"That's right, NOTHING." I said fiercely. I turned over and pulled a blanket over my shoulders.

Fiona's POV

I walked away from the room, and all I could think of was one thing. _Man, Ed was acting weirdly. _

Seriously, what the heck was up with that? Unless… no. No, it's not possible. He falls for Winry, end of story, good bye, the end. **(1)**

I slipped into my room and packed up my stuff. I knew they were going to want to leave early the next morning. Then I flopped onto my bed, and I fell asleep without even pulling the covers up, wondering about Ed's weird behavior.

The next morning, I was proved right in that the brothers wanted to leave early. I was awoken by Ed knocking on my door, shouting through the crack that they were going and that if I was coming with I had better get up and get dressed.

I groaned and pulled myself out of bed. I got dressed in the clothes I'd set out for myself, and grabbed my bag. I didn't care that it was even heavier than normal; no books were getting left behind.

I met Ed and Al in the entry way, and Pinako came out with us onto the porch to say goodbye.

"Huh? Where's Winry?" Al asked after a second.

"She's sleeping. She did pull three all-nighters for you, didn't she?" Pinako asked. "Do you want me to wake her up?"

"Nah, don't bother." Ed waved the offer away. "She'd just go on and on about how I need to take better care of my automail. Let her sleep."

As we started to walk down the path, I waited for the expected call out from Winry to come. A few seconds later, it did.

"Hey, Ed!" We all turned to see Winry standing on the deck on the top floor, wearing her pajamas, her hair tousled. She gave us a sleepy wave. I waved back energetically. Ed turned away, rubbing one hand behind his head, and then giving a half-hearted wave. I saw Winry smile slightly. When we walked away, I tried to be happy about it. The story was progressing as it should.

We made our way back to the train station. I was preparing for a very long and very boring train ride; I already knew from watching the show that the ride was mind-numbing.

About an hour into the train ride, Al and Ed started playing cards. I watched skeptically, given that I already know that Ed has a habit of cheating. Sure enough, he won every single round that they played. Eventually, I didn't think I could watch Alphonse suffer shameful defeat. As Ed was counting up what he'd won from that round, I grabbed his sleeve and shook it around a bit.

Several cards for a REALLY good hand fell out. I smirked at him. "Not really that lucky, are you?" I asked.

He looked dumbfounded. "How did you…?"

"No one can be that lucky that many times." I stated. "Statistically speaking, it's pretty much impossible."

"Brother," Al said reproachfully.

"Aheh…"

I guess that made Ed kind of mad at me, because he didn't look over at me for the better part of the next hour. I laughed inside at this.

I took out the first Harry Potter and started reading again. I could see in my peripheral vision that Al was looking at the cover.

"The Sorcerer's Stone?" He asked. I looked up. "Yeah, it's a fictional series I'm rather attached to."

Al looked over at Ed. Then they both looked at the book again. I sighed. "What is it this time?"

"We haven't exactly told you what we're trying to do, have we?" Al asked.

"Noooo…" I said, pretending to be curious. "No you haven't." _So, how much are they ACTUALLY going to tell me?_

Well, they actually didn't tell me that much. They explained to me that they were looking for the Philosopher's Stone in order to regain something they'd lost. Even if you didn't know the plot line, what they wanted back was so blatantly obvious that I'm surprised they didn't just come out and say it. They wanted Ed's limbs back. While they didn't tell me about Al's body, one could only assume by the hollow sound he made when he walked that there was no one there. They did mention about why Ed's arm had been blown off, so at least I was free to talk about Scar without getting questioned.

"So," Ed finished, "I guess we were just curious about this Sorcerer's Stone."

I laughed and closed the book. "Well, funny story, actually. I don't live in the same country where this book was originally published, so they changed a couple of the words in the book when they brought it to my country. For instance," I said, glancing at them both, "The word 'Sorcerer' is not the original name for the stone. Originally, it was called the 'Philosopher's Stone'." I laughed again. "Funny how these things happen, right?"

Ed looked as though he was resisting the urge to snatch it from my fingers and read it himself. "If you want to read it, I'm not going to stop you. It's an excellent series, but I don't think that any information you're looking for is in there." I stated. I flipped through it again and reread the paragraph on the Sorcerer's Stone aloud to them.

"-Which will make the drinker immortal," I finished. "I honestly don't know if this lines up with anything you've heard, but that's pretty much all I've got."

Ed sat and thought. And thought. And thought. In fact, he thought for pretty much the whole train ride, until we got to Central and I remembered what we were going to do there. Aaand the First Branch was going to burned down. Oh, the horror! I shudder to even think about books being burned.

When we got there, Ed went tearing off the train, leaving Al, Armstrong and I to follow in the dust cloud. When we ran into Ross and Brosh, I was getting prepared to hold Ed back just in case.

"Wow, so that's why they call you the Fullmetal Alchemist!" Brosh said admiringly of Al. "That armor's so cool!"

"Um, I'm not the Fullmetal Alchemist, he is!" Al said, waving his hands in front of his face. I joined him in then pointing at Ed, slumped over in the corner in gloom.

"Oh, he is? I didn't think that an alchemist would be so sma…" Ed turned, ready to attack. There was a crazed look in his eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean small, I was just surprised, that's all." Brosh tried to back out of what he'd been saying.

Ed sighed heavily and stood up, gritting his teeth in anger. "It's okay," He muttered. "I'm getting used to it."

I patted him on the shoulder. Poor guy.

Ross turned to Major Armstrong. "You have been ordered to return to HQ. We will take over the care of the Fullmetal Alchemist and friends."

"We don't need babysitters!" Ed said, exasperated. I poked him in the ribs to try and shut him up, and politely asked "Why exactly do we need protection? I thought Scar was in East City!"

"Well, he was, but sources report that he's back in the area." Ross replied.

"_Oooh…" _Well, whoop-di-flippin'-do. Great. I'd actually been hoping that this wouldn't happen, but I guess the plot continues!

"Fine," Ed grumped. "Let's just get to the library!"

We all piled into the car, leaving Armstrong behind. After a couple minutes, Brosh asked "I'm sorry, but I've been curious. Why do you wear that armor?" Ed and Al exchanged panicked looks. Then, sweating bullets, Ed said "It's a hobby."

Ross and Brosh immediately began whispering between each other. I sweatdropped and glanced at the boys. "A hobby, huh?"

Ed turned slightly pink. Then he and Al looked out the windows, commenting on the weather. I facepalmed. Fail, boys, epic fail.

"Oh, look I can see the library!" Ed said, looking out the window. I leaned over his shoulder and looked. "Um, I don't think that's the First Branch."

"No, it's not." Ross confirmed. We stopped in front of the burned out building. "This is the First Branch. Unfortunately, it was burned down quite recently."

Ed and Al stood rooted to the spot in horror, while I stood in the background. I wasn't feeling much better than they were; I was pretty horrified seeing a library burned. This had suddenly become much more real to me. You know how when you watch a TV show and you laugh or feel sad for the characters, but you know it's not really real, so you don't get emotionally attached? Well, it's way different if you're actually there.

"B-b-b-b-but how?" Ed stuttered. "Our lead… it's gone!"

I sighed and turned away. "I have an idea. Follow me." I could hear them follow me to the main library. I turned in front of the door. "Maybe we could ask some of the library staff!"

"Good idea!" Ed pushed past me into the library. I sighed and followed. When I got inside, he was asking desperately if anyone could help.

"You could always ask Sheska…" One guy suggested. "She could help!"

"Where can I find her?" He asked. The woman at the front desk gave him an address, and we left to find it.

We kept going, and I glanced over at Ed. He looked really determined, and it was a bit hot. Brain, shut up! Shut up! Shut up! GET. OVER. IT.

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><p><strong>(AN: 1) If you got that Harry Potter reference, twenty bonus points.**

**Aaaaaaaaaaand there went that Chapter *sigh* I'm always excited when I post them but depressed when they end. **

**Anyway...**

**I love you all! 3**

**Review, Follow, Favorite Please! **


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello, my lovelies! Time for another exciting chapter. Or you know it might be filled with exposition, who knows? **

**The reference I was talking about was Mad-Eye's quote from the fourth movie "End of story, good bye, the end." **

**If you saw any other accidental references, let me know! **

**Anywho, enjoy! **

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><p>Chapter 8<p>

Ed's POV

I notice that Fiona's been looking over at me for the past couple minutes. When she noticed I'd seen her, she turned pink and looked away. What the heck?

Fiona's POV

He noticed me. Oh crap. Oh crap. OH CRAP!

I could feel my face grow warm. Don't look, don't look, don't look. I could feel him looking at me. Oh my gods stop looking please!

So there I am, walking along with my face bright red, I'm sure, and Ed's looking at me. Oh, god, he's got to know now. He's not stupid; he's probably figured out that I like him now.

But he just shrugged to himself and looked away. Gods, boys can be dumb. (In a completely endearing way.) I guess he's pretty naïve about girls.

I took this moment to recompose myself. Get rid of the blush and keep walking, I told myself.

We finally got to Sheska's house, and when we knocked on the door, there was no answer. I already knew exactly why. I wasn't going to say anything, though.

Ed forced the door open and we all gasped as if on cue. Sheska's house was wall-to-wall filled with books. It's amazing she could even move around in here. We all started looking for her. As I passed a big pile of books, I heard "Please… hello? Help!" I jumped. I knew she was under some books, but that was scary. _I still can't believe this is really happening, _I thought to myself. "Uh, guys?!" I called over my shoulder. Their heads all poked out from behind bookshelves. "Yeah?"

Pokerfaced, I pointed at the pile of books to my left. "Uh… I think she's under here."

A moment's pause, and then everyone freaked out and started throwing the books out of the pile. I frowned. That always seemed insensitive to me. So I carefully stacked the books beside me as I worked.

Eventually, we freed Sheska from the pile. I'm pretty sure we were all worse off than Sheska was; Ed had a book on his head, somehow. Sitting on the floor, she straightened her glasses and bowed to all of us in turn frantically.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" She cried. "I thought I was going to suffocate under there!"

"No problem," Ed said hurriedly. "Listen, we have a few questions to ask you about your job at the First Branch library."

"Oh, the library!" Her eyes started to sparkle, and we all sweatdropped. "That was the best job in my life! Surrounded by all those books!" Then she slumped in gloom. "But they fired me because I couldn't stop reading! Reading is all I'm good at, and now that I don't have a job I won't be able to move my elderly mother to a hospital because I'm useless!" She started crying.

I sat down next to her and hugged her. "You're not useless!" I said firmly. "Beating yourself up about it won't help you!"

She looked up at me with watery eyes. "Now," I continued. "We just want to ask you a question, okay?"

She nodded. Ed, getting over the sweatdrop moment, asked the question. "When you worked at the library, do you remember any book by Tim Marcoh? It would have been a big book, probably leather-bound."

She started to think. "Marcoh… Tim Marcoh…" She muttered. We all stared at her intently. "Oh, yeah, I remember! It was in a really weird place, too."

"So it was in the First Library?" Ed asked urgently. "Yeah," she replied. Ed and Al slumped. "So it's burned up now. Thanks for the help."

We all started to leave, but Sheska asked "Excuse me, but did you want to read those notes?" We turned.

"Yeah," Al said. "But they're burned up now."

"Well, I could write it out for you if you want." She said, thinking. We all stared at her. "WHAT?!"

"Yeah, I've got a photographic memory!" Sheska said brightly. "I can remember everything word for word! I could have it done for you in 5 days, maybe."

"Yes!" Ed cried exuberantly, shaking Sheska's hand. "Thank you, bookworm!" Sheska sweatdropped. "I'm a worm?"

When we left, I cuffed Ed lightly over the head. "That was rude, Ed." He looked at me incredulously. "What?" I sighed. He didn't get it. "Never mind."

We headed back to the military hotel, where Ed requested one room.

When I got to the room, I was thinking about something I shouldn't even have been considering. _Should I tell the brothers where I'm from? _I wondered. It feels wrong to lie to them like I have been. But I doubt they would believe me. Even if it is the original, Ed hasn't been to the other side of the Gate yet; he's only been inside of it. Why should he believe me?

"Hey, are you okay Fiona?" Al asked me. I snapped out of my thought. "Yeah, I'm fine." I looked around the room. It was pretty sparse. Only a bed and a couch, with a blanket folded on each. Hmm. I would've thought the military had better service. Oh well.

I sat down on the couch and pulled out Harry Potter again. I curled up underneath the blanket and immersed myself again. Fortunately, the brothers left me alone; I don't like being interrupted while I'm reading.

I heard Ed sit down next to me and start writing. After a while, though, I think he got bored. I could tell because he scooted over next to me and looked over my shoulder. Did I mention I also hate when people read over my shoulder?

I carefully marked my page, and then closed the book. I looked at him. "What?" I asked. He scooted away again and turned slightly pink. "Nothing," he muttered. "I was just wondering what that was about."

"Do you even like fiction?" I asked skeptically. "You don't seem the type."

"Not really," he admitted. "But it's a weird name. What's it about?"

"Oh, it's about wizards."

"_Wizards?_" He raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, wizards." I said defensively. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"No, no!" He waved his hands in front of his face. "I didn't say that! You just seem too… I dunno, too logical to like that kind of thing."

"Well, it's a really amazing book. Maybe I could read aloud sometime; I've been trying to work on my 'public' speaking."

"Maybe."

After dinner, I jumped out the window. Okay, not literally. While the other two were turned away, I climbed up on the bed, climbed out the window, and somehow managed to get up on the roof. I wanted some quiet. I walked away from the point I'd climbed up on and sat on the other side, looking up at the stars. They really were beautiful. There's so much less pollution in Amestris that it wasn't hard to see them at all. As I sat there, a thought occurred to me. It was perfectly private up here; no one was going to intrude on me. I could try to do some circle-less alchemy. Yes, I know that earlier I said I wouldn't try, but the urge was too strong. I was one of the few who could do it! How could I not try?

I backed away from the edge of the roof and kneeled in the middle of it. I thought about something simple, just a little bouncy ball or something. I'd figured out how to make rubber from concrete by then. I thought really hard about that bouncy ball. Then I clapped my hands together and slammed them into the ground, closing my eyes as I did so. Blue light shone through my eyelids once more, and when I opened them I saw a blue little ball on the ground in front of me in the middle of a slight depression I'd created.

I picked the ball up and bounced it. It worked just fine, bouncing behind me. I waited to hear the sound of it bouncing off the roof again, but instead heard the unwelcome _ping! _of the ball hitting metal. I turned in confusion. Unfortunately, Ed was standing there, the ball in his hand. He didn't look happy at all.

"You're coming downstairs right now!" He growled. I sighed and followed him back down the edge of the roof and into the room again. Al's head turned stiffly towards us as we entered.

"What's wrong, brother?" He asked Ed as I climbed in.

"She's what's wrong, Al!" He said, anger pulsing through every word. He turned as I bounced down on the bed and slammed me into the wall. I shrank back from Ed's rage.

"Fiona?" Al asked, bewildered. "But why…?"

"Go on, Fiona. Why don't you tell him what's wrong?" Ed told me, folding his arms.

My mind went blank; what was I supposed to say? _Oh, I come from the other side of the Gate and I think I'm stuck here? _How unbelievable does that sound? So I fibbed and played dumb.

"What are you talking about, Ed?" I asked. I was startled to hear my voice tremble slightly.

He looked momentarily confused, but the anger quickly came back. "There's only one way that you could transmute that way. When did you do the taboo?"

"Wha-? What, NO! I would never do that!" I protested.

"Then why can you transmute that way?!" He yelled. "Why are your limbs automail? And don't lie!"

I looked down for a moment. "I'm not lying, Edward." I heard him shift slightly at the sound of his full name. "I haven't done any human transmutation." I laughed bitterly. "But almost everything else was a lie. I only lied because I know you won't believe me."

"Try me." He sat down next to me; he seemed to have calmed down some.

Well, nothing left but the truth, I guess.

"I'm from the other side of the Gate. How's that?"

I looked up to see his shocked expression, and looked back down quickly, in case the anger came back. "That's the truth. I'm from North America, and I was on a road trip with my family. I fell down a hole, and I ended up with Truth." I heard Ed grit his teeth together at that name. I don't exactly blame him; I want to punch Truth's grin right off his face. "He gave me the option to go through the Gate to here, and I thought it was a dream so I accepted. But… Truth always takes its toll." I moved my automail slightly. "So that's my story. And from the sound of it, you've done the taboo as well. So who are you to judge, anyway?" I felt my voice shake a lot, in anger and grief. I could feel the prick of tears forming in the corners of my eyes.

Ed's POV

Fiona's from the other side of the Gate? I was in shock. I didn't think there _was_ another side. She looks like she's going to cry, too. What do I do?

I looked over at Al desperately, but he shrugged his big metal shoulders. Yeah, you're a big help Al.

"It's okay if you don't believe me," she said in a hollow voice. "I wouldn't believe me either."

As unbelievable as it sounded, it made sense. I shook my head slowly. "No, actually it makes a lot of sense. I had a feeling something was different about you since I've met you."

I realized what I'd said and felt my face flush. "Not like that, okay?! You just talk slightly differently from everyone here."

"Yeah, well, at least I'm not British." Al and I glanced at each other in confusion. What's _British?_

She looked up, hope adorning her features. "You really believe me?"

I swallowed. "Yeah. I'm sorry."

She stood up and stretched. "Cool. So, we're sleeping together tonight, right?"

"WHAT?!"

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><p><strong>*evil snort-cackling* AND NOW YOU HAVE TO WAIT. <strong>

**As I've said before, I am very aware that I'm mean. **

**Review, Follow and Favorite! 3 **

**fff**


	9. Status Update

**Oh goodness gracious people I am **_**so so sorry!**_

**I swear I'm not dead. I'm not. Otherwise I couldn't write this, so hopefully that'd be obvious, but… **

**I've just been so preoccupied with school. I just got into high school and everything is overwhelming and I could probably ramble about this forever, but I have so many writing projects already. And also… *sweatdrop* aheheh, I may have become completely obsessed with an anime called Danganronpa and the games that it was based off of. I've been so preoccupied with writing little side fanfics and roleplaying for it, that I honestly completely forgot about everything else. I have more chapters for them all, so if I can, I'll do my best to update within what… a few weeks? This is just to let you know that I haven't forgotten you. **

**On that note, if you haven't watched or played Danganronpa and Super Danganronpa 2, go do it. Now. It's amazing and I need you to **_**share in my pain! **_

**~TheKawaiiPatato~**


	10. Chapter 9

**Hey, guys!**

***dodges flying tomatoes***

**I deserve that... sorry, guys... anyway, here I am and I have a new chapter with me! Hope that makes up for my overly-long absence...**

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><p>Chapter 9<p>

Fiona's POV

I started laughing, weakly at first, then much harder as I caught a glance at the horrified look on Edward's face.

"Not like that, you pervert!" I choked. "I mean that Al's got the couch, right? There's only one bed! I just meant to share the bed, okay? Not… not _the other thing!_" I cracked up even more. "Unless you actually wanted to go there," I said suddenly with a grin.

Al started laughing too. Ed turned dark pink. "Okay, okay!" he protested. "I get it!"

"I'm going to change. See you in a minute!"

I went into the bathroom and locked the door behind me. After I did, I slid down the door and buried my face in my hands. I can't believe I'd said anything. I can't believe that they believed me. I can't believe I almost cried in front of Edward. What sort of wimp must he think I am now?

I quickly threw on some sleep shorts and a t-shirt. I got up and splashed some water on my face to get rid of the drying tears. I stood up straight and looked at myself in the mirror. I looked a bit stressed, but nothing I couldn't handle. Good.

I walked back out, not looking at either of the brothers as I climbed up onto the bed, closing the window tightly. I snuggled under the covers and turned to the wall, going as close as I could to it. A few moments later, the light went out and Ed sat down on the bed next to me. I heard Al say a soft "Goodnight, brother," and leave, possibly to go rescue a stray cat outside, possibly to go read. I have absolutely no idea.

Ed sat quietly for maybe 20 minutes. I think he was waiting for me to go to sleep. Little does he know it takes me about 40 minutes to do that. I felt his weight on the bed lessen, and I turned over on my other side to see what he was doing. A moment later, I shut my eyes tight, sure my face was the exact same shade of red that Ed's coat is. He had just pulled his shirt off, exposing his chest. Okay, I have a new theory. Edward Elric is very aware of my crush and is trying to punish me for it. He has a 6-pack! How does he have a flipping 6-pack when he's 15 without being a muscle bound freak?! I mean, he's not a body-builder! How does this happen? Explain this to me!

He took his belt off, but very fortunately left his pants on. I breathed an inward sigh of relief. Then I looked up and saw his hair was still in its classic braid. I frowned slightly; sleeping with my hair braided always makes my neck hurt.

As he sat down on the bed again, I advised quietly "I'd take the braid out if I were you." He jumped.

"Oh, Fiona!" He said through the dark. "I thought you were asleep." I could hear the little sound of something snapping as he pulled out the band that held his braid in place.

"Yeah, I know you did." I muttered dryly as I turned over, facing the wall again. "I never thought I would see a guy in real life doing fanservice."

He got into the bed and pulled the covers over him. "What's fanservice?"

"It's when a person takes their shirt of." I said clearly. I glanced over my shoulder and saw him turn pink. I laughed. He turned away from me, and I turned towards him. I started running my fingers through the still-braided hair to undo it. I felt him stiffen slightly, and then relax. I guess that meant he was okay with it. Man, it was silky! After I finished brushing his hair out, I turned to face the ceiling. It had been one crazy day.

~Next Morning~

I groaned pleasurably. I'd had a really good night's sleep. Then I leaned against something rather hard. With a heartbeat.

_Wait, WHAT?! Oh heck no. Heck. NO. _

You know all of those fanfics that say that Edward Elric is a sleep hugger? Yeah, they're all true. Every single word.

His arms encircled my waist, trapping my hands against his chest. His chin rested gently on the top of my head. Ed was breathing softly. I was not, because I was focusing all my energy on NOT hyperventilating, or trying not to.

_No, Fiona, no, you do NOT get to fangirl! _I told myself firmly. _Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee… how cute! Okay…. Deep breaths…. Relax…._

Once I was sure that I WASN'T going to die from fangirling, I tried to figure out a plan of escape.

I gently attempted to wriggle my way out, but he wouldn't let go. Great.

I poked him softly in the chest. Nope.

I whispered "Hey? Ed?"

He stirred slightly and pulled me even closer. My ear was right up against his heart now. "Just 5 more minutes, Al…" he slurred in his sleep. My face burned, and I redoubled my efforts not to hyperventilate.

I wasn't about to go pull an Envy and yell "Wake up, Fullmetal Pipsqueak!" in his ear, so what now? Well, there's nothing I could've done. So, feeling embarrassed for even doing so, I leaned my head against Edward's chest and fell asleep again.

Ed's POV

I woke up very slowly, and I realized something was resting against my chest. I looked down and saw that Fiona was snuggled up to me, and I was _hugging her. GAH! _I didn't know what to do. She looks so peaceful when she's asleep. I smiled slightly in spite of myself. She's pretty cute when she sleeps. Okay, brain, that's enough! SHUT UP!

Unfortunately, Al chose this moment to come in. I glanced over my shoulder, panicked. He saw me and immediately started stifling his laughter. He was not particularly successful.

Fiona stirred and looked up at me. After a moment's pause, she turned completely red and stuttered out "I-I-I-I-um… oh, geez… Oh, SHUT UP, AL!" Al immediately stopped laughing. I think he's a bit scared of her. I let go of her and she scooted away, sitting upright.

"I'm sorry I didn't wake you up earlier," she mumbled, rubbing her eyes and yawning. "I woke up earlier and… well… you didn't wake up when I tried. I tried everything but calling you the 's' word."

I'm sure I turned red too. "No, it's okay. Wait, which 's' word?"

"Short," She said simply.

Fiona's POV

I watched as an irk mark appeared on Edward's forehead.

"I AM NOT SHORT!" He screamed. I started laughing.

"I'm telling you, Ed, your short rants are cute!" I told him. He paused and went from bright red to light pink. Aaaaw!

"Urgh." Ed face palmed. "Seriously, though, I'm sorry."

I looked at him in weird way. "Since when do you apologize like this?" He turned a slightly darker shade of pink. "Um…"

I laughed slightly. "It's okay; I just know you're not exactly known for being the most forgiving of people."

He considered this; I could tell he hadn't heard that before.

I got up and stretched. Then I went over to the couch, got my book, and started reading again. I was so immersed in my book; I didn't hear Al clear his 'throat' until he actually tapped on the book. I looked up, slightly irritated. Seriously, could I just get through my book for once? I looked around. Where was Ed?

"Listen," he whispered. "I think that Ed actually does want you to read that book aloud, but he's never going to ask you."

I thought about that for a moment. "Alright," I said softly. "I think I get it. I'll bring it up."

"Thanks," Al said sweetly. _Aaaaw… _Ed may be absolutely hot, but Al is really cute in his own way. I mean, he obsessively rescues stray cats! How can you not like Al?

After about 15 minutes, Ed came out of the bathroom, his hair still wet from his shower. He was braiding his hair back again, but I don't think he knew where his hair tie was. He held his braid back with his hand, frowning, as he looked around for his hair tie. Little did he know I had it around my wrist while I read. Let's see how long he searches. I did this to my older brother at home all the time; he had super long hair that he tied back, and by now he always knew to come to find me first when his hair tie went missing.

After another 5 minutes of searching, he walked over to me. "Fiona," he asked suspiciously. "Do you know where my hair tie is?"

I looked up innocently. "No," I answered. He looked down at my hand. "Liar," he muttered. "It's right there!"

"Yeah, yeah." I pulled off the tie, pulled it back, and launched it at Ed. He just barely caught it.

"Hey," I said as he turned away, tying his hair back. "Do you want me to read aloud?"

He turned sharply. "What gave you that idea?" I shrugged. "Nothing," I said. I was _so _not selling Al out.

Ed turned slightly pink. "Sure," he mumbled. He sat down on the couch next to me. I flipped back to the beginning and started reading. "Chapter 1: The Boy Who Lived…"

~A while later~

"…and saying in hushed voices: 'To Harry Potter—the boy who lived!'"

I finished reading the first chapter and looked up at Ed and Al, who'd been listening intently.

"So, what do you think?" I asked them.

"Keep reading!" Al urged. I looked over at Ed; he nodded mutely.

I kept reading.

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><p><strong>Like I said, sorry... That's not a real apology for this, but I really am. High school is overwhelming.<strong>

**Anyway...**

**Review, Follow, Favorite!**


	11. Chapter 10

**Okay by now you shouldn't even trust that i'll update regularly anymore. However, I am OFFICALLY out of the woods (I was forced to be in my school's production of Into the Woods so I made a funny) and hopefully (HOPEFULLY) I can update a bit more frequently. Hopefully. **

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><p>Chapter 10<p>

I read for pretty much that whole day. I stopped a couple times to get water, but by the end of the day I'd gotten to chapter 11, 'Quidditch'.

I finished the chapter, and rubbed my throat. "Okay, that's it for today." I got up to refill my glass and drank it all in one.

I came back out and sat down again, still rubbing my throat. "Jeez, I've never read that much aloud before. My throat hurts now!"

"You're really good!" Al said encouragingly. "What do you think, brother?"

I looked over at Ed. For some reason, he'd turned somewhat pink. "Um… yeah…"

"Oh, come on!" Al sounded somewhat exasperated. "Can't you just answer?"

"I said YEAH, OKAY?!" He yelled. "OKAY, SHE'S GOOD!"

"Well, gee, thanks." I said somewhat dryly. The pink got a bit darker on Ed's cheeks.

"Sure…" he mumbled.

"I can read more tomorrow, if you'd like." I offered.

"Yeah," Ed agreed. "I have to admit, I want to know what's going to happen to Harry."

"That's sort of the point. J.K. Rowling is an amazing author!"

"So, this book is from your side?" Ed asked.

I looked down at the book, smiling fondly. "Yeah, it is. There are 7 books total."

Ed looked at me curiously. "So, what's your world like?"

"Well, as far as I can tell, there are two main differences." I told him. "First off, the year in my world is 2014."

He gaped at me. "B-b-but that's 100 years in the future!" he stammered.

"Yeah, I know. The clothes here are so strange to me. Let's see, what month is it?" I asked him. "Um, June." He replied. I received a shock; that's my birthday month!

"Hmm." I walked over to a small calendar on the wall that Al had gotten. "What's the date?"

"The 9th," Al said. "Why?"

I turned to the brothers. "Well, in 20 days, then, it's my birthday! I'll be turning 15!"

For some reason, that made me sad. I've always celebrated my birthdays with my family. This was going to be one empty feeling birthday.

Ed seemed to notice my gloom. "You said there were two differences," he prompted me. "What's the other one?"

I snapped out of it. "Oh, yeah. In our reality, alchemy doesn't exist."

"_What?!" _He gasped. "_No alchemy?!" _

"How do you get things done?" Al asked, incredulous.

I smiled. "In our world, we developed on a much different track. Alchemy was considered a 'dead science' a long time ago, so no one practices it. Even if they did, it wouldn't work. But we've made great leaps in engineering and electricity. We have planes and things like that, and we use light bulbs more frequently instead of lanterns and candles." I flopped down on the couch and sighed.

"What's a plane?" Al asked.

"It's a machine that can fly," I replied. "A lot of them are specialized to take people across the country."

Ed looked at me skeptically. "Sure."

"No, really!" I protested. "They do exist!"

"And then there's the internet," I sighed happily, laying my head back on the couch. "It's hard to explain, but it's like a big catalog with a bunch of different games and things you can visit, and you can literally talk to anyone on the planet!"

I didn't say what was really weighing on my mind; that where I'm from, my family actually exists. Great, way to be an optimist, Fiona. I stood up abruptly. "I'm going to go shower." I told the room in general, and then left to the bathroom. It's the only semi-private place in those rooms.

I looked at myself in the mirror for a second, then slapped myself. _Get over it, _I told myself sternly. _Getting upset about something I can't help won't do anything for me. Don't cry. Not yet._

I stripped and stepped into the shower, letting the warm water run over me much longer then I should have. I estimate that I was in there for about 45 minutes. As soon as I was done, I changed and left. I once again walked right over to the bed and snuggled myself under the covers. Once again, the lights went out, Ed got in next to me, and fell asleep fairly fast. But I wasn't planning on staying there. I avoided Ed, careful not to disturb him, and climbed out the window again, getting up on the roof. I laid right in the middle and looked up at the stars. _This is a good place to think, _I decided.

Ed's POV

When I went to bed, I actually couldn't fall asleep. I was still thinking about the things that Fiona had told us about her reality. It was so spectacularly weird, that it was hard to believe. Especially the whole 'they don't have alchemy' thing. I can't imagine a world without alchemy!

Suddenly, felt Fiona shift as the weight on the bed suddenly changed. The window creaked open, and I felt Fiona jump up onto the windowsill.

I turned in time to see her foot leave the windowsill, and I stared up after her, wondering what she was doing. I threw on my undershirt and followed her up.

I found her lying on her back, looking up at the stars, apparently in deep thought. She didn't notice my presence until I sat down next to her. She started and looked over at me.

"I thought you were asleep," she said softly. "Sorry if I woke you up."

"No, it's okay," I replied. "I couldn't sleep." I laid down next to her. "Whatcha lookin' at?"

She pointed up at a group of stars. "I'm trying to find Orion. And… I… just… can't… FIND IT!" She sounded frustrated. I looked up at the stars as well.

"Hmm…" I muttered. "Well, I see the Big Dipper over there," I pointed towards a different constellation.

"Oh, you're right!" She exclaimed. She gave me a side-eyed look. "I didn't realize you knew any astronomy."

"Yeah, well." I looked back up at the stars. "I learned a lot of the different constellations when I was a kid."

"You know…" She poked my automail arm. "You never told me why you have automail."

I turned away. "Not in the mood."

She sighed and propped herself up on her elbow, looking at me critically. "Fine," she said. "I didn't want to play this card, but… Equivalent Exchange."

I snapped my head over to her, startled. "What's Equivalent Exchange got to do with this?"

"I told you at least part of my story," she stated. "You tell me part of yours. Equivalent Exchange, right?"

I didn't really want to say anything, but I felt compelled to. She was right, in a sense. I sat upright and looked up, determined not to look at her. I didn't want to see the pity that I knew was going to be in her eyes.

I told her the whole story; how I'd convinced Al to help bring mom back, and how it'd failed miserably. I explained to her the life we lead, and what sorts of things that happened to us.

"So," I finished, "now that you know what you're getting into, you probably don't want to be around us, do you?"

"No," she said slowly. "That's not it at all." I was startled to hear that her voice sounded heavy with sadness. Suddenly, without any warning, she leaned over and hugged me, pressing her face into my automail arm. She started crying. I started panicking. What do I do? I don't deal with crying girls at all!

"I'm sorry…" she choked out. "For all that you've been through."

I didn't know what to do, so I awkwardly hugged her back. "Is that why you're crying?" I said, laughing slightly. "It was a while ago; you don't need to go crying about it."

"Well, that's part of it," she sniffed, her voice muffled in my arm. "But I miss my home, Ed. I miss my family. My mom, my brothers. I miss it all. I even miss that stupid road trip I was on before I got drop-kicked into this place. I want…" She took a deep breath. "I want to go back."

Fiona's POV

This was extremely stupid. I shouldn't be crying in front of Ed. But I couldn't help it; hearing the story straight from his mouth had been incredibly tragic, and it reminded me of how much I wanted to be with _my_ mom. There were more things that almost came out, so many _I wants, _but had I said all of those he would have been sitting there all night, and I wasn't going to do that to him.

I sat up after a couple minutes of crying, and Ed let go of me rather quickly. I could tell he was uncomfortable, which just made me feel worse.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled.

He snorted. "You need to stop apologizing."

"Shut up, Ed. I'm not in the mood for that right now."

"Sorry." He muttered.

"Now who's apologizing?"

"Oh, stuff it."

"Whatever. I'm too tired to argue." This isn't actually a lie; I was dead tired from all of this crying. I was also too tired to make a decent decision.

I leaned back against Ed's automail arm, and sighed. "Gods, I'm tired."

He looked down at me. "What the hell are you doing? Automail's not exactly a comfy thing to lay on." He grumbled.

"I know."

"And why do you say gods, instead of god? Are you Polytheistic?"

"Nope. I'm just a fan girl." I said happily. I could feel his head move down to look at me. "Of a book series…" I added on. "It's about the old Greek gods, and the general fandom has accepted the challenge of sayings Gods instead of God." **(1)**

"Huh. Your reality sure is weird."

"I think I get the right to say that about here, then. I mean, you have flipping alchemy! Come on!"

"Touché. So do you actually believe in God?" He asked me.

"Nope. I'm an atheist. Or I was, until I met Truth, and I don't really think he counts as a god, do you?" I replied.

I could feel myself slowly falling asleep, and I wasn't sure if I should just suck it up and get down back to the bed or be a lazy butt and stay there. I decided to be a lazy butt.

Ed's POV

_Why is she leaning on my arm? _I wondered. She sounded really tired, too. I'm not sure if I was hoping she'd fall asleep there or not.

But it wasn't my choice to decide. She slowly fell asleep, slipping down my arm until her head was on my leg. I looked down at her. Her hair was covering her face slightly, so that it flicked back and forth as she breathed softly. I carefully moved the hair off her face, and she shifted slightly, smiling in her sleep. She curled up into a little ball and slept on.

Gently, I picked her up bridal-style and made my way down the roof to the window. That was rather difficult, but her instincts seemed to kick in, because she grabbed onto my shirt in an effort not to fall. Or maybe not quite that. As she did so, her face squinched up, as though she was dreaming about something unpleasant. By the time I climbed in the window, though, she was smiling sweetly again. I put her in the bed, pulling the covers over her. She mumbled slightly in her sleep, and I leaned closer to hear what she was saying.

"Wasn't…expecting…this…" she was saying. What was she talking about? I climbed into the bed beside her.

The last conscious thought I can remember is _Please don't let me hug her again in my sleep._

**(A/N: 1): If you know what I'm referencing here, I'm very glad that you read. If you don't, go read Percy Jackson. All of it. **

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><p><strong>Yep... sooo... there goes another chapter.<strong>

**Review, Follow, Favorite! **


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